The New Zealand referee, who also officiated the quarter-final between France and South Africa, was heavily booed when he arrived on the pitch on Saturday October 21.
He was persona non grata. New Zealand referee Ben O’Keeffe was whistled by supporters at the Stade de France during the England-South Africa Rugby World Cup semi-final on Saturday October 21. The French public accuses him of having a responsibility in the elimination of the Blues in the quarter-final against South Africa.
“We must respect the referees“, reacts Sunday in the “club info” on franceinfo, Florian Grill, president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR).
france info: Do you regret the whistles during the England-South Africa semi-final, at the Stade de France, against referee Ben O’Keeffe?
Florian Grill: Yes clearly, I regret them. I am president of the FFR. We have 2,700 referees. It would take 3,300 to cover all the meetings. My number one responsibility as president is to protect the referees. Its very important. We have a sport which conveys a certain number of values and the first of these values is respect. This is what we learn in rugby schools, this is what we teach our children and this is also what makes parents want to send their children to rugby schools. I perfectly understand the disappointment, the sadness, even the mourning, but we must respect the referees.
“We learn to win, we also learn to lose. It’s part of the values of rugby.”
Florian Grillat franceinfo
Furthermore, you sent a report on refereeing to World Rugby. For what ?
It was hyped up a little in the press, but in fact the reports are nothing exceptional. At each match, we take stock, we analyze the different phases of play and we send that to World Rugby. We did not want to make a protest since the match was not going to be replayed. Making a report is completely traditional, it’s classic. We do it systematically in all matches.
A week after the elimination of the France team in the quarter-finals, have you digested this failure? Is that the word you put on this elimination?
We are still in a phase of mourning and sadness for the Blues, for Fabien [Galthié], for everything this group has done and for our supporters, for the public. We haven’t completely digested it yet, but we have to move on too. There is the Women XV at the moment with the women who achieved a feat in New Zealand by beating the Black Ferns. There are the Six Nations tournaments, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and perhaps we will have a Women’s XV in France also in 2024, so we are preparing for the future and we are preparing for 2027.
“Yes, it’s a sporting failure. Have we digested it? No, not completely.”
Florian Grillat franceinfo
You have seen Fabien Galthié. What did you say to yourself?
We reiterated our mutual trust. We were with Jean-Marc Lhermet, who is my right-hand man throughout the high-level part. This is not the result of a match with a one-point defeat which must ignore 80% of victories over the last four years and a very good victory in the opening match against the Blacks. We have a young team. We have two players who are hanging up their boots, but the whole team is still there and we have to prepare for 2027. For that, we have to have political influence in the authorities. This is an important point in the observation we made. Then, we looked at the areas for improvement that could be found in the match. It’s one of the things that is normal.